March 26, 2015

There's been a bit of sneaky behind-the-scenes work going on around here.

As you know if you've been following along here, I've always designed patterns with the aim of making clothes for my two amazing girls that will fit them well and that they'll be happy to wear. Luckily that grew into a little business making patterns that a whole group of sewing friends and customers would love.

But as my girls grow and their tastes change (along with my own) I feel the need to shake things up a bit with some new ideas and challenges. And so, I'm a little sad (and a lot excited) to wave goodbye to "Wink Designs" and to announce the launch of my new adventure "Peach Patterns".

What "Peach Patterns" is all about:

A brand that's in line with the fresh simplicity of the patterns and one that actually incorporates the word "Patterns".

A look that is minimal and modern but still pretty and with a little nod to retro style (which, after all, inspires an awful lot of childrens' sewing and pattern design).

More variety in the patterns (not just dresses!) with some pants, shorts, tops and leggings (and a jacket perhaps?).

Larger sizes. So far, I've mainly stopped as Size 8 and will aim to offer more patterns up to Size 12.

A range of quality patterns that you can trust, ones that are among the best of the best and that are supported by great tutorials, online support and inspiration that together help you get the best out of your patterns and sewing.

Above all, patterns that enable you to make great quality finished garments that your child will love, that you had fun sewing and will get that "Wow, did you really make that?" reaction.....

Wink Designs has had so many lovely customers who've given great reviews, feedback and encouragement. I'll by no means be throwing out all their old favourite patterns. They will still be there along with some great new styles.

Thanks so much for all your support and please let me know what you think about the changes as you see them filtering through.

The new look is now live here on etsy (come over, check it out - you can use the discount code below) AND stay tuned for a stand-alone website which is my current little work-in-progress.

P.S. You can still access the content on this blog for the time being but soon I'll be blogging via my new site at www.peachpatterns.com

After Easter, I'll be calling for testers for my first Peach Patterns release - a cool new lounge pants/ harem pants pattern. I've been busily churning out wearable samples for my girls and they're loving them. A good sign! Keep an eye out if you're interested in signing up to test.....

February 12, 2015

What is this type of girls dress called? It has a ruffle attachment on the bodice that runs over the shoulder from front to back. I first thought "flutter sleeve dress" but the ruffle isn't really a sleeve - more of an embellishment. I've settled on "ruffle shoulder dress" but am open to suggestions?

In any case, I first became really interested (a little obsessed, if truth be told) about recreating this design after seeing this amazing dress by Nellystella on Pinterest (images from Nellystella website):

Because Miss Wink is not attending a wedding anytime soon, I wanted to make a more user-friendly, everyday version minus the front pleating and the sash.

A sheer floaty fabric was needed to do the job so I chose two cotton voiles by IE boutique from my stash. I used a floral with magenta background for the outer dress and lined it with a coordinating cream fabric with small floral sprigs.

(I bought these online but actually visited the bricks and mortar boutique on our trip to Paris last year and stocked up on another few prints - show and tell in another post to come!).

The dress back closes with 4 mother of pearl buttons:

This has been a bit of a work in progress over the past month. I did the pattern as I went along, having to add and subtract bits and pieces here and there and finally, I think, finding the right balance.

All in all I love the result of the design teamed with this fabric and it has gotten a big stamp of approval from its owner so I'm hoping to get some shots of it being modelled soon (They're getting way too clever and I have to bribe them these days......)

What next? A pattern perhaps? Maybe but I have two others in line so will keep it on the burner......

December 22, 2014

School's now well and truly out for Summer here in OZ (big sigh of relief). An end of year task I was dreading but which turned out to be surprisingly easy and fun was putting together this Fifties themed "Grease" outfit for the school dance.

Note: way too much red lipstick and nail polish was worn (but I was too tired to protest).

If you've ever typed "girls circle skirt tutorial" into Google you probably know that all roads lead to this tutorial on MADE blog. I followed the instructions with the exception that I added only 1 inch instead of the recommended 2 to the waist measurement when calculating the radius for the waist circle. Making the skirt itself was quick and easy and only required a bit of patience when sewing on the 4 metres (!) of lace trim to the hem.

The fabric is a "double crepe" from Spotlight and the drape and texture worked really well with this design.

And the result: perfect twirl-ability.

I did have good intentions of making a coordinating top but I ended up buying one (in a womens size and altering it) as I couldn't find the right sort of knit fabric.

Hope you are enjoying your week and the countdown to Christmas..... xox

The double row of elastic for the waist. I do this for most of my elastic waisted patterns now because I think it gives a neater and more professional finish. I posted about this method (which is simple and probably quite self-explanatory) previously here.

Also, I'm trying to remember to use more of my Wink Designs clothing labels for a nice finishing touch (and so the girls can work out which is the back......)

September 10, 2014

Our European trip starts tomorrow and I want to enjoy our time away without feeling the need to be constantly tied to a device. So rather than trying to manage the shop on the go, I've reluctantly decided to put it on vacation mode for the next 6 weeks.

The good news is that you can still head over to one of these stockists, all which have the full range of Wink Designs patterns:

Thank you so much for your support of Wink Designs. I'm looking forward to releasing the leggings and other knit basics patterns in the next few months (and I also have another few pattern ideas up my sleeve)....

August 27, 2014

It's a small detail but one which, as a pattern designer, has been playing on my mind. Pattern instructions usually state that fabric should be folded right sides together prior to pinning and cutting pattern pieces. The pieces are then either cut on the fold or in layers. At the same time, there seems to be no reason given as to why this method of folding is important.

If you're like me and like to bend the rules, you'll know that folding wrong sides together (as in my little diagram below) usually gives you the same results. So why the insistence on folding in a certain way?

My searches haven't returned much concrete information on the topic but what I have found all seems to boil down to this:

Folding right sides together allows you to transfer any pattern markings more easily onto the wrong side of the fabric. Which is where they should be. Apparently.

Is this a compelling enough reason? I would vote no because:

Many of us use modern independent patterns which are more pared down and simplified than traditional commercial patterns. They have minimal or no pattern markings (especially for children where there are no bust darts, for example).

Folding the fabric wrong sides together allows the pattern design to be seen when pinning and therefore allows positioning of the pattern pieces to best effect.

What about you? How do you fold and do you think it matters? Are there any important reasons I've missed here for folding in a certain way?

August 16, 2014

Because she bears more than a passing resemblance to Alice, the little one decided she wanted a made-to-order Wonderland costume for her first ever Book Week at school.

I used the Wink Designs "Madeline Dress" pattern as the basis for the costume. The "Madeline Dress" is sleeveless so I did a bit of mix and match on the pattern piecing and used the sleeve piece from another pattern - the "Simply Sweet Blouse" - to make a short puff sleeve. Luckily, with a bit of gathering over the sleeve cap, it worked really well.

I drew up a simple pattern to create a tie-on apron and appliqued some playing card shapes onto the front. A bit of frilly trim later and we were there!

Big sister went as the Mad Hatter but put her outfit together from bits and pieces in her wardrobe. Was thankful for that as two handmade costumes probably would have pushed me over the edge! (Especially as I managed to lodge a pin in the metal plate of my sewing machine and had to finish the apron ties with fusible hemming tape.)